Premier
Web and SaaS
virtual assistant service
SHOW HN2013
85points
56comments
#283of 1,739 in 2013
Top 17%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
10 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 12 critical, out of 42 comments about the project. Thread score -0.14.
Pricing: 1 for, 3 againstDesign: 3 for, 1 againstIdea: 0 for, 3 againstExecution: 3 for, 0 againstDocs: 0 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Pricing and plans well presented; site shows benefits clearly
From 3 comments
Very cool. I was skeptical but your page did a nice job of showing benefits and differentiating yourself from other providers. Thanks for sharing and good luck. I'll be sure to…
morganb180 on HNThis looks great!
amip17 on HNLooks very nice. Look forward to trying it soon.
eclipxe on HN
Good results on past web research and document tasks
From 2 comments
I haven't used this service from MW in particular, but I did use the pay-as-you-go one for web research stuff a few times and had excellent results. They were quick, and gave me…
digisth on HNI sent in the "I am including a link to zipped file which has a bunch of files. The files are pdfs and images of business cards with corresponding contact information. Please…
jayzee on HN
Objections
Pricing is unclear; starting price anchors low versus actual plan costs
From 2 comments
I like the concept. We're just starting to use VAs effectively, and it would be nice to have a utility-billed VA service instead of having to go to fiverr or oDesk. I don't like…
qeorge on HNHe's right, "starting at $6/hour" threw me off as well. I initially thought $6/hour gets me an average person and $30/hour gets me an expert. The "starter" plan starts at $15/hr,…
thoughtsand on HN
Weekly plans are inflexible; users want per-task or hourly billing
From 2 comments
This service looks really well thought out. I am currently looking for a service exactly like this however, rather than a pay by week service, I'd really like to pay per task or…
jonwinstanley on HNPersonally, I would prefer it, but I realise it may be confusing to your customers to have two totally different pricing methods. How did the hourly model perform when you used…
jonwinstanley on HN
Rotating staff undermines trust and continuity compared to a dedicated VA
From 2 comments
The big advantages of a dedicated VA are trust and communcation. In other words, after a dedicated VA and a customer have worked together for a few months, it is more likely that…
hollerith on HNI have had a full time VA for many years now and she does all sorts of things for me, including purchasing items using my credit cards, research in buying a new couch ... and…
timedoctor on HN
Unclear how $6/hour can be profitable
From 2 comments
For $6 an hour, how is this profitable? How easy can it be to find intelligent, English-fluent people with bachelor's degrees, anywhere in the world, who are willing to work for…
idiot900 on HNMy guess is that there is some amount of quota that goes unused. You pay for 40 hours, you end up using 30. That probably helps a little, but still... how is this profitable? I'm…
aarondf on HN
Requests
Offer a la carte or hourly billing option
From 2 comments
I like the concept. We're just starting to use VAs effectively, and it would be nice to have a utility-billed VA service instead of having to go to fiverr or oDesk. I don't like…
qeorge on HNI'd be interested in hiring for hourly work, but I'm not sure how much work I need to send out per week. I suspect others are like me. It would be nice if we could pay a monthly…
_lex on HN
Show real anonymized examples and results on the site
From 2 comments
Yeah, I think without the results those requests just don't offer much to a potential user.
duck on HNYou could credit them to anonymous people, and use quotation marks. "I'm looking for help booking a trip for a family of 4 to France." - A Satisfied Customer from California, USA…
unreal37 on HN
Clarify where the assistants come from
From 2 comments
I noticed they don't talk about where they get their virtual assistants from. Do they hire them themselves, or do they recruit them from another agency? How do I sign up to work…
joshaidan on HNWho are the VAs?
omarchowdhury on HN
Questions
How are the assistants sourced and vetted?
From 1 comment
We can definitely share this information. We are a crowdsourcing company and have tens of thousands of people in our crowd in more than 55 countries with variety of backgrounds…
prayag on HN
How is time budgeted against a plan's hours?
From 2 comments
I'm not familiar with the virtual assistant space, but my question is: Let's say I have the Lite plan, 5 hours/week. I then ask to get something done, like one of your examples:…
eggbrain on HN>Do I also tell you how long to spend time on it as well? I might think I could get 10 tasks done with my lite plan, only to find out that the PowerPoint presentation takes 5…
prayag on HN
How is card data stored and can it be deleted?
From 2 comments
Looks like they hold on to your Credit Card info FOREVER in ETERNITY! = Shady. What else could "pause" mean? From their FAQ Page: Can I cancel my account? Yes. Just sign in and…
vaprem911 on HNWe actually don't hold your credit card information at all. We use Stripe and only save your customer id. The credit card info is saved by stripe and they do not support its…
prayag on HN
Alternatives named
oDesk / Upwork
From 2 comments
I like the concept. We're just starting to use VAs effectively, and it would be nice to have a utility-billed VA service instead of having to go to fiverr or oDesk. I don't like…
qeorge on HNI have had a full time VA for many years now and she does all sorts of things for me, including purchasing items using my credit cards, research in buying a new couch ... and…
timedoctor on HN
Fiverr
From 1 comment
I like the concept. We're just starting to use VAs effectively, and it would be nice to have a utility-billed VA service instead of having to go to fiverr or oDesk. I don't like…
qeorge on HN
Amazon Mechanical Turk
From 1 comment
Nice service! Seems similar to Amazon's Mechanical Turk. You can find more examples here as well: http://aws.amazon.com/mturk/#bus-case
neuven on HN